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I Am Number Four: Because you don't deserve anything better
It's no accident that the hero of I Am Number Four has a number instead of a name. He's a cipher. One of the most generic heroes ever created, he has absolutely nothing to distinguish him from every other rebellious/angsty teenage hero ever. And he's the perfect hero for this "alien in high school" story, which is a die-cast plastic creation, almost devoid of anything memorable. More »

Why Fritz Leiber is the least-known science fiction author you need to know
I'll admit it: I'm obsessed with Fritz Leiber's novel Our Lady of Darkness. It's pretty much the best book I've ever read about my hometown, San Francisco - but it's also just a great work of urban fantasy that seamlessly blends sexually liberated 1970s California with ancient forces of darkness drawn from pulp fiction. Lieber's ability to blend realism with the fantastic has won him a Hugo Award and many fans, including literary geek Michael Chabon. But his great works remain mostly unknown.

What will suspended animation really be like? A new study offers hints.
In early winter, brown bears find a comfy spot in a cave or burrow that's well-protected from the cold. Then they curl up, fall asleep, and don't awaken or eat for 5 to 7 months. It's called hibernation, and until now we weren't really sure what happened in bears' bodies during that time. How could they survive for half a year without food?

Engineers just made the world's first anti-laser
Scientists and engineers at Yale University have just created an anti-laser, a device which absorbs light. Instead of shooting energy out of a tube, it takes energy into a tube. Instead of creating light, it creates darkness. How does it work?

5 reasons why I want to make love to the Martian Manhunter
A few weeks ago, a group of io9 staffers (including yours truly) were engaging in some truly rarefied discourse - which science fiction characters we'd like to bone would make the ultimate valentine. I don't remember which names were bandied about, but Man-E-Faces, Bib Fortuna, and Clarence Boddicker were (definitely not) on the short list.

The Sun unleashes its biggest solar flare in years
Earlier this week, the Sun emitted its first X-class solar flare in about four years. The most powerful form of solar flare, this particular flare has lit up a massive region on the Sun's southern hemisphere...and any of our readers in the far northern or southern latitudes will be treated to some particularly amazing auroras over the next few days.

The 10 clichés of the comic book mega-event
With DC and Marvel's big summer events, Flashpoint and Fear Itself, shaping up and getting hyped, it's time to ponder the ten most common bromides of the modern comic book mega-event. And no, we don't mean "hologram covers.

Amazing video explains evolution by showing 500 people tracing a line
This video depicts 500 people trying to do what should be an extraordinarily simple task: trace over an existing line. But as each person was asked to copy the previous person's effort, the original straight line morphed into a chaotic mess of random squiggles. We're not saying this is exactly like how evolution works, but this is a pretty great depiction of how random errors and mutations can accumulate over time.

A Highly Scientific Study Of Love Potions From The Internet
This is the kind of scientific study you can only do with help from the internet. We rounded up the best love potions online and forced them down the throats of three willing victims. So what love potion was the best? Watch and find out.